Meet the Monkeys

As 2013 closes, we'd like to introduce you to three of the monkeys who were favorites of the researchers this year, due to their social prowess and their spunk in
surviving the trials of life: Pitufo (who has only one hand), Chaos, a female
who made the bold move of joining a new social group when her mother and sister
died, and Billie Holiday, a tiny orphan. All of them taught us new things about the behavioral flexibility and adaptability of this species. Your donations help us continue to monitor these monkeys' lives and bring you news of their activities.

Be sure to also visit the "Monero Memories" section of this website, under "People" and then "Alumni," to read vivid tales from past staff members of their favorite moments with the monkeys.

Pitufo rests with his new friend Newman, an immigrant from Cupie's group

Pitufo was born in Pelon group in 1999, and throughout his
juvenile phase, he was always a favorite because he played so nicely with the
other monkeys and seemed to have such high social intelligence. We always
predicted that he would do well in life because of his superior social skills.
However, when he was 7 years old, he lost his left hand, presumably in a fight.
He made an amazing recovery and retained popularity with the other monkeys, but
he was the oldest male in our developmental study to still be living in the
group in which he was born, where he helped his brother Oden retain alpha male
status. However, towards the end of 2012 Pitufo surprised us all by becoming
alpha male of Celeste’s group, which had recently split from a larger group. At
first, Pitufo had no adult male rivals, but later he defeated his brother Power
in a fierce struggle for the alpha spot. Power retreated to his
established position as the alpha male of the small Cupie’s group.

Cupie’s group was also having a very difficult year, because
two of the three adult females in this group had died recently, leaving the
remaining female (Chaos) to take care of all of the immature offspring of her
mother and sister, in addition to her own offspring. The tiny group had hostile
neighbors on all sides and spent much time fleeing their neighbors. When Chaos’
male relatives decided to join Celeste’s group, she made the bold move of
attempting to join Celeste’s group as well. This is the first time we had ever
seen a group fusion: females normally live only with their own matrilineal kin
and are hostile to all females from other groups. Not surprisingly, Chaos did
not initially receive a warm welcome from Celeste’s family. But with time, the
monkeys from both families worked out their initial relationship difficulties
and are now a thriving social group. You can read more about the details of
this simian social drama (and see photos and video) on Pitufo’s and Chaos' Facebook
pages (see the Adopt-a-Monkey portion of this website).

Some of you probably remember how little infant
Billie was orphaned at age 6 months when her mother Boones disappeared from Flakes group at the end of
2011. Thanks in part to the devoted care of her cousin Edison and her father
Quijote, this spunky little monkey is now thriving. She is still surprisingly
tiny, but she stands up for herself when others try to bully her and has become
a very competent forager.She is the
youngest orphan to survive in this population.